Crochet-thread holder.



w. A. STUPFELL. CROCHET THREAD HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED APR.19. I915.

Patented Mar. 7,1916.

. ticular reference to means WILLIAM A. STUPFELL, OF BELVIIJERE, ILLINOIS.

CROCHET-THREAD HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. '7, 1916.

Application filed April 19, 1915. Serial No. 22,490.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. STUPFELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belvidere, in the county of Boone and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crochet-Thread Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to thread or yarn holding means and has more parfor holding the ball or spool of thread or yarn while crocheting or knitting.

The-primary object of my invention is to provide a simple and novel means for holding a ball or spool of thread or yarn used when crocheting or knitting, or doing other hand needle work, whereby said holding means may be conveniently placed upon any suitable support near the operator who need pay no attention to the whereabout or unwinding action of the ball or spool, and whereby said holding means shall insure a continuous, unobstructed, and easy unwinding of the thread or yarn during the crocheting or other operation.

Another object of my invention is to pro-.

vide as an article of manufacture, an imroved ball and spool holding means, of utility especially to those who crochet or do I other hand needle work, and to embody said article in such simple design and structure that it may be manufactured at a low cost.

Further and more specific objects of my invention are to provide a ball or spool holder comprising a portable base in the form of a weight whereby the holder may be placed where desired when in use and will hold the ball from being displaced by the pullof the thread; to provide a spindle for a thread-guiding arm that is detachably mounted on the weight so as to be easily removed therefrom, at will, in order to place a ball or spool on the spindle or to remove one therefrom, and whereby various sized balls or spools maybe used, and to provide a novel thread-guiding arm freely movable to accommodate the thread as it is unwound from a ball on the spindle so as to prevent snarling of the thread and to guide it as it is being unwound, and adapted to be adjusted in accordance with various sized balls of thread so as to operate most effectively therewith.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings; wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved yarn or thread holder, the spindle being removed from the base; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the holder, the upper portion in section, showing a relatively large ball of thread carried by the holder. Fig. 3 is also a side elevation of the holder, but showing a small ball of thread mounted thereon; and Fig. i is a detail plan view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. l Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that theholding means consists mainly of three elements, a base 5, a spindle 6, and a thread-guiding arm 7 all designated in general by their respective reference characters. The base 5, made preferably of metal so as to serve as a weight, may be of any suitable design, and is provided with a j central smooth walled socket 8 extending inwardly from its top face, whereby to support a spindle in an upright position. The spindle 6 in the form of a round rod is adapted to fit at its lower end in the socket 8, thus being mounted on the base in such manner as to be removable at will therefrom, the spindle being threaded at its upper end as at 9. A pair of circular guiding or abutment members 11 and 12 having threaded apertures centrally therethrough are screwed onto the threaded end 9 of the spindle, the member 12 being lowermost and adapted to be vertically adjusted on the spindle, and the member 11 being fixedly secured to the spindle by riveting or flattening the top end of the spindle. The thread-guiding arm 7 preferably stamped from sheet metal, is mount ed on the spindle between the guiding members 11 and 12 before the member 11 is secured in position, so that it may swing freely about the spindle axis and also rock vertically on the spindle, being guided and held against displacement from the spindle by the said abutment members.

From Figs. 2 and 4:, it will be observed that the inner end of the arm 7 is provided with an aperture 13 of greater diameter than that of the spindle, whereby, with the spindle extending through said aperture, the arm is loosely mounted on the spindle so as to be freely rotatable and movable up and down with respect thereto, but is guided and limited in movement by the members 11 and 12. The outer and provided with an eye 14 and a thread-way 18 leading into the eye, as shown clearly in the drawings. This peculiar shape and arrangement of the thread-guiding means is adapted to permit the thread to be easily entered into the eye and to provide against its being drawn therefrom during passage through the eye while being used in the crocheting or other operation. By turning the outer end of the thread-guiding arm downwardly and supporting the arm pendently as drawings, said outer end will normally lie at one side of and substantially midway be tween the top and bottom of a ball or spool on the spindle, whereby to facilitate the operation of unwinding.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that the arm in swinging horizontally about the spindle axis abuts against and is guided by the members 11 and 12; that the proximity of the lower member to the upper memher determines the pendency of the threadguiding arm and the range of vertical movement through which the outer end thereof the ball resting may swing, and that by adjusting said lower member axially of the spindle, the said range of movement may be varied.

It will be apparent that when the holder is to be used while Crocheting, it may be placed on a suitable support, such as on a shelf, table or window sill and that the thread guiding arm is self-adjusting in every sense, since the arm may swing freely to any radial position and may rock vertically as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so as to yield in case the thread should snarl in unwinding or fail to unwind evenly, whereby the passage of thread to the user may be even and free from jerks. When a large or a small ball of thread is used, the pendency of the outer end of the thread-guiding arms may be adjusted by adjusting the member 12 on the spindle to properly position said end of the arm with respect to the ball. Thus, when a large ball is used, as shown in Fig. 2, the member 12 would be positioned closer to the member 11 than in the instance where a smaller ball is used, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noticed that the operation of mounting a ball or spool upon or removing from the holder is very simple, since the spindle may be lifted from the base thereby freeing a ball already mounted thereon so that the ball may be removed for permitting the spindle to be passed through the center of the ball and then remounted on the base with in operative position on the latter, and also that balls or spools of various sizes may be used, the spindle being made long enough to accommodate the largest ball or spool generally used.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a yarn shown in the guiding or thread holder comprising a base in the form of a portable block provided with a socket adapted to receive a spindle whereby the same may be supported in upright position, a spindle fitting at its lower end in said socket and freely removable therefrom, and a thread-guiding arm mounted on the upper end of the spindle freely about the spindle axis and provided at its outer end with an eye through which thread may pass from a ball or spool mounted on the spindle, said spindle and arm being removable together from the base whereby to remove from or mount upon the spindle and base a ball or spool of thread.

2. As an article of manufacture, a port able yarn or thread holder comprising a base, an upright spindle mounted thereon, a rigid, thread-guiding arm loosely mounted on the upper end of the spindle so as to swing freely about the spindle axis and pro vided at its outer end with an eye, and abutment members cooperating with the inner spindle so that its outer end may freely swing about the axis of the spindle and vertically within a range of vertical movement limited by said abutment members during the operation of drawing thread through the eye in said arm from a. ball or spool mounted on the spindle.

3. As an article of manufacture, a yarn or thread holder comprising a base, an upright spindle mounted thereon, a threadarm having at one end a bearing aperture of larger diameter than the spindle and through which the latter passes so that the outer end of the arm may be freely swung on the spindle about the axis thereof and vertically with respect to its inner end, the loose mounting of the arm permitting its outer end to normally depend below its point of support on the spindle and the said outer end being provided with an eye, and means for limiting the range of vertical swinging movement and likewise the pendency of said arm.

s an article of manufacture, a yarn or thread holder comprising a base, an upright spindle mounted thereon and threaded at its upper end, a thread-guiding arm mounted on the upper end of the spindle so that its outer end may freely swing about the spindle axis and also swing vertically with respect to its inner or spindle-mounted end, and means for guiding said threadguiding arm including a circular member having a central screw-threaded aperture therethrough engaged with said threaded end of the spindle so as to be adjustable vertically thereon, whereby said member may be adjusted on the spindle to vary the said vertical range of movement of the Outer end of the thread-guiding arm.

so as to swing.

5. As an article of manufacture, a yarn or thread-holder comprising a base, an upright spindle mounted thereon, a threadguiding arm having means at its outer end for guiding thread from a spool or ball on the spindle and having a bearing aperture in its inner end of larger diameter than said spindle and through which the latter extends, whereby said arm may swing freely both horizontally about the spindle axis and vertically upon the spindle, and means carried by the spindle for guiding the threadguiding arm during said horizontal swinging movement and for limiting the range of said vertical movement.

6. As an article of manufacture, a yarn or thread holder comprising a base block, an upright spindle mounted thereon and threaded at its upper end, a circular member provided with a centrally disposed threaded aperture therethrough engaged with the threaded upper end of the spindle, a thread-guiding arm provided with an aperture through its inner end of greater diameter than the diameter of the spindle and having thread-guiding means at its outer end and being mounted at its inner end on the upper end of the spindle above said circular member, the spindle project- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the ing through the said aperture in the inner end of the arm, and a confining member mounted on the top end of the spindle preventing removal of the arm therefrom during the operation.

7 As an article of manufacture, a yarn or thread holder comprising a base in the form of a portable weight, an upright spindle removably mounted on the base, and a rigid, thread-guidin arm loosely mounted on the upper end of the spindle by means of the spindle passing through an aperture in the said arm and having confining 1nembers above and below the arm, the arm having means at its outer end for guiding thread from a spool or ball mounted on the spindle, whereby the outer end of the arm may swing freely on the spindle about the axis thereof and vertically with respect to its mounted end to the accommodation of the thread, and whereby also the ball or spool may be removed from the holder by removal from the base of the spindle and the arm connected thereto.

WILLIAM A. STUPFELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. MCCANNA, DELLA ATKINSON.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

